Too Much Stepner: #3 Frisch Rolls Past #14 Fuchs Mizrachi in Tier I Qualifier Rout

For a half, this felt funny.

Fuchs made it messy. They made it physical. They made Frisch uncomfortable, up 23-10. And for a moment, it felt like we might be in for something. And even as Isaac Stepner started to heat up, it didn’t immediately change the tide. He was hitting ridiculous shots,  heavily contested, self-created, the kind of buckets that shouldn’t be sustainable, and yet, Fuchs was still right there, up 33-31 at halftime. Then everything changed. Frisch stopped overthinking it and did the obvious, finally playing through Stepner instead of around him. After that adjustment, the upset watch was dead. The superstar finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds, and went 10-10 from the field, leading a 42-9 second-half charge and a 73-42 Cougars romp.

How It Happened:

• Frisch came out flat, and Fuchs pounced. Elisha Pizem was perfect early, literally — 7-for-7, finishing with 16 points and controlling the tempo. Moshe Jacobs added 14, attacking downhill and keeping the Mayhem organized. 

• Fuchs were flying around, disrupting everything, and, most notably, exposing Frisch’s struggles guarding basic downscreens, which gave them a commanding advantage and was enough for a 33-31 halftime lead. 

• The Cougars ripped off a 24–6 third quarter, turning a tight game into a runaway. Stepner kept cooking, but now he had help. Jesse Reinhart was perfect — 7-for-7, 18 points, 7 boards. Nathan Neufeld raised his tenacity. The energy shifted, the pace picked up, and Sarachek proudly welcomed the Frisch team everyone in the Jewish Basketball world expected.

The #3 Frisch Cougars defeated the #14 Fuchs Mizrachi Mayhem 73-42, advancing to the Tier I Quarterfinals. (Photo Credit: MacsLive)

The Zone Changed Everything:

Defensively, the adjustment was just as important. Frisch went to zone, and that was it.

Fuchs, who had been sharp early, suddenly had nothing. The offense stalled, the looks disappeared, and with limited depth, the legs just weren’t there to respond. Meanwhile, Frisch started running. And once they got into the full court, it was over.

Frisch proved too deep:

Fuchs played a near-perfect first half. But over 32 minutes, it caught up to them. Frisch kept coming in waves. Reinhart was flawless, Neufeld brought toughness, and the rebounding edge (24–12) showed who controlled the game late. Once the legs went and the shots stopped, there was no second gear for Fuchs, who fell victim to the Stepner show.

Two Words: Isaac Stepner:

Stepner didn’t wait for the offense to find him, he became the offense. Contested shots, self-created looks, rebounds, tempo — he impacted everything. And once Frisch finally leaned into that and ran things through him consistently, they were on a different planet. Sometimes you watch a game and a player just feels different. That was Stepner today.

This wasn’t just production — it was artistry. The kind of shotmaking where the defense actually does its job, and it just doesn’t matter. Contested pull-ups, tough finishes, creating space out of nothing, possession after possession, he made high-difficulty look routine. It also never felt forced. Things felt calm, even as everything around him was speeding up. There’s a difference between scoring and owning the moment, and Stepner did the latter. You could feel the shift when he got going — the gym, the momentum, the belief from his team. It all followed him.

If this is what Stepner looks like when he gets going? This might just be the beginning of a historic Sarachek run. 

So now we’ve found the Frisch we were waiting for as the #3 seed is into the Tier I Elite Eight, while Fuchs drops to Tier II qualifiers — where they’ll face #19 Hillel Pittsburgh.